Exclusive: Chelsea F.C. is the Team to Beat This EPL Season, Says Robbie Fowler

All 20 teams in the Premier League will be in action on Boxing Day (December 26). Chelsea, who have a slender 3 point lead over Manchester City will be looking to consolidate their position on top of the points table. Manchester United who are slowly starting to find their feet again under Van Gaal have the best Boxing Day record amongst all EPL teams. They have won 17 of their 20 December 26th fixtures

Two Premier League legends, Robbie Fowler, who played over 250 matches for Liverpool and Peter Schmeichel, who captained Manchester United to the 1999 UEFA Champions League title were in India recently and spoke to NDTV about the current EPL season

NDTV: Are Chelsea the favorites to win the title this season or can Manchester City beat the blues to the title?

Robbie Fowler: I think the Premier League this season is all about City and Chelsea. Chelsea does look like the strongest and are a very good team, so much pace and power all through the squad. They are the team to beat.

NDTV: What's your take on England's two most successful clubs, Manchester United and Liverpool struggling to mount a real title challenge this season?

Robbie Fowler: I think Liverpool are guilty, the success they have had over the years has been unbelievable, both teams are not getting what they liked this year. I would like to focus more about liverpool as I am still associated with them and I think Liverpool should have been bouyed by the confidence from last year but a lot of things have maybe not happened for them, there have been a few injuries and they haven't gelled.

NDTV: How much are Liverpool struggling to replace Luis Suarez this season?

Robbie Fowler: Any club in the world would miss him, he is an unbelievable player, one that we really enjoyed during his time in Liverpool. Sadly a lot of players move on, Luis is not English & he is from a Spanish speaking country and he wants to play for Barcelona and he goes there with all the blessings of Liverpool. What I will say is that he became a better player at Liverpool, I know he scored a lot of goals but a striker is only as good as the team is and there were lot of good players playing with him last season. So it isn't all about Suarez, there are a lot of good players this season and the players come and go but the club will always remain here.

NDTV: Overall, is the EPL still the best League in Europe?

Peter Schmeichel: I think EPL is not just the best in Europe but the best in the world. I think it's the only league where everybody can beat everybody, no gurantees that you will win the game as the other team will go in the game thinking that they can win as well.

NDTV: Talking about Manchester United, is Van Gaal the right man to lead Manchester United now after the debacle of the Moyes era?

Peter Schmeichel: I think Van Gaal has the right personality to take United forward. He has an ego which is big which is important, he doesn't care about criticism and I don't think he reads press. He has a clear idea about what he wants to do and he is doing by his own belief not by any other person's. That's important as that's the only way United can look forward.